Barrick CEO says gold mining industry still needs to consolidate – by Felix Njini and Steven Frank (Bloomberg News – October 7, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Barrick Gold Corp.’s top executive says the gold industry needs more consolidation so it can increase exploration to boost depleting reserves, lure more generalist investors and improve efficiencies.

The flurry of deals that characterized the sector in the past two years will likely continue, with miners in Australia already “stamping their mark” on the industry, Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said in a virtual South African mining conference.

Mergers and acquisitions are likely to dominate the sector in Africa, and are needed in Canada, where the world’s second-largest gold miner is based.

“The industry still needs further consolidation,” Bristow said Wednesday. “Canada still needs more work on consolidation.”

While there was a scramble for deals after Barrick’s 2018 mega-merger with Randgold Resources Ltd. and Newmont Corp.’s subsequent acquisition of Goldcorp Inc., deals have slowed as gold’s rally to an all-time high this year pushed up the price of assets.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/barrick-ceo-says-gold-mining-industry-still-needs-to-consolidate-1.1505052